Knob-latch.



W. A. CROUCH.

KNOB LATCH.

(Application filed June 15, 1900.1 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shut I;

Fa -1- T W/TNESSES INVENTOH; \MQANWAQNWM,

I ATTORNEY m: NORRIS PETERS co. wmou'mo msmwsmn n c No. 659,887. Patented Oct. I6, I900. w. A. cnpucH.

KNOB LATCH.

(Applieltion filed Juz'w 15,1900. (No Modal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W/TNESSES INVENTOH MA Payee .Cmowck,

7 ATTORNEY rrn State WALTER A. CROUCH, OF GROTON, CONNECTICUT.

KNOB -LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,887, dated October 16, 1900.

Application filed June 15, 1900. Serial No. 20,470. \No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER A. CROUCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Center Groton, New London county, Connectiout, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knob-Latches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is in knob-latches, and has for its object the production of a latch of simple construction which shall be operated by moving the knobs and their connectingspindle witha longitudinal rather than with the ordinary rotary movement and in which the same impulse exerted to operate the latch or a continuation thereof shall serve also to swing the door upon its hinges.

My improvements also make possible a novel manner of mounting the knobs upon the latch -spindle, as hereinafter fully described.

To aid in explaining my invention, I have provided the accompanying sheet of drawings, illustrating the same as follows:

Figure 1 is an edge view of a portion of a door fitted up wit-l1 my newly-invented latch. Fig. 2 is across-sectional view taken in the main on the line 1 l of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of the latch-case with its cover-plate removed to expose certain of the interior mechanism. Fig. 4 embraces perspective views of the said case and of the bolt forming a portion of the latch mechanism. Fig. 5 shows in side elevation a portion of the spindle. Fig. 6 illustrates, principally in section, the manner of mounting the knobs upon the spindle of my newly-invented latch without the use of screws. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line '7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 shows in perspective a slightly-modified form of bolt. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and shows, partly in elevation and partly in section, the manner of assembling the bolt of Fig. 8 and connected parts in the lock-case. Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 10 10 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 illustrates a still further modified form of bolt.

Referring to the drawings, the letter a denotes the portion ofa door adjacent the latch, and 1) denotes the latch-case, which latter is set into the door a in the usual manner. The case b is provided at its forward end with the faceplate b, and one of its sides is removable when the case is withdrawn from its seat in the door to enable the interiorof said case to be reached, and such removable side I have termed the cover-plate and denoted the same by the reference-letter 19 The letters 0 and cl denote the usual escutcheon-plates, located, respectively, on the opposite sides of the door and provided with hubs 0 cl, that are chambered, respectively, as at 0 d to receive the shanks of the knobs c and f, which said shanks are capable of limited longitudinal movement in the chambers within which they are received.

The reference-letter g denotes the usual spindle, the opposite ends of which receive, respectively, the knobs e and f. In Fig. 2 the said knobs are shown as secured to the spindle by the screws 6 f in the usual manner; but in Fig. 6 the said knobs are secured in a manner hereinafter explained.

The spindle 9 passes through the door a and case b and its opposite ends enter the chambers c d to receive the knobs e and f. To permit the spindle g to be passed through the door a and case b, as just mentioned, the door is bored, as at a, to receive the said spindle. The cover-plate b and the opposite side wall of the case b are provided with squared holes b 17 located midway the length of the casing and in alinement with each other and in alinement also with holes 0 d located, respectively, in the bottom walls of the chain bers 0 (P.

The bolt 71. of my newly-invented latch mechanism is located in the case?) and is capable of limited longitudinal movement therein. The forward end of the bolt h is, provided with the usual beveled face h, which protrudes beyond the face-plate b when the bolt is in its forward position. I In the rear of the said beveled face h of the bolt h a rectangular opening 7L2 is provided, extending almost throughout the length of the bolt, but being inclosed by top and bottom and end walls. The spindle 9 passes through the opening h adjacent its rear wall, and extend ing into said opening from the said rear wall is a projection 7L3, having a beveled edge 71. substantially parallel with the beveled face it of the said bolt h. The projection It just mentioned enters a slot 9 in the spindle g,

and the beveled edge thereof is engaged by a roll g axially supported in the slot g by means of a pin 9 The roll g is of such size and is so located in the spindle 9 that it lies entirely within the cross-sectional area of the spindle and may therefore be readily passed through a hole in the door of sufficient size to receive the spindle g instead of requiring a larger or supplemental opening, as is necessary in some analogous devices in which a roll is pivoted in the b.olt,'and a laterally ment of the bolt is limited by reason of the engagement of the end wall of the opening b with the spindle g passing therethrough.

Assuming that the door of Fig. 2 is latched and it is desired to open the same, it will be understood that it must swing in the direction of the arrow, and it will therefore be necessary to push said door if approached from the side of the knob 6 onto pull the same if approached from the side of the knob f. Before the door can be opened, however, it is first necessary to operate the bolt h to unlatch the same, so that upon grasping either of the knobs and operating in the manner described the first result is to cause the spindle g and its knobs to move longitudinally, as shown in dotted lines in the drawings. When the spindle 9 begins to move, as just mentioned, the roll 9 carried thereby, begins to travel on the beveled edge h of the projection h resulting in forcing the bolt h rearward against the force of the spring 70. The just-mentioned movement is continued until the beveled face h of the bolt h is withdrawn from engagement with the strikeplate a (dotted lines, Fig. 2,) which said position of the bolt is reached at approximately the completion of the longitudinal movement 2); the knob-shanks within the chambers 0 tion just mentioned, continued pushing or pulling upon the knobs, as the case may he, serves to swing the door upon its hinges.

When the bolt end h is withdrawn from the strike-plate a the various elements of the latch mechanism have assumed approximately the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and as soon as the door a begins to open the spring it seeks at once to force the bolt h outward, causing the projection h whose beveled edge 11/ engages the roll 9 to return the said roll and its spindle g and knobs =6 and fto their normal po sitions. Upon closing the door the bolt h engages the strike-plate a and is first forced When the bolt It has assumed the posibackward against the force of the spring it until the said bolt enters the opening in the strike-plate and the various elements assume their normal positions.

I have described the knobs e and f as mounted upon and secured to the spindle g in the usual manner, but so as to operate with a sliding spindle, as described, and I have also provided means whereby the said knobs may be more positively secured in position, while at the same time the screws 6 f maybe dispensed with and the common annoyance of having such screws work loose is avoided.

To accomplish the resultjust mentioned, the shanks of the knobs e and fand the chambers 0 d which receive said shanks, are preferably square, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the shanks, while free to move longitudinally in their respective chambers '0 (1, can not revolve therein. The spindle g, instead of being square in cross-section throughout its entire length, has its ends turned and threaded, as at g g, and correspondingly-tapped holes are provided in the knob-shanks to receive the said threaded spindle ends.

Assuming that it is desired to secure the knobs to the spindle after the latter has been passed through the lock, the operation is as follows: The escutche'on-plates c d are first mounted upon the spindle ends, with the latter projecting into and through the chambers c d in the hubs cd. The shanks of the knobs efare then introduced into their respective chambers c d and the threaded spindle ends g 9 adjacent each knob-shank are introduced into the tapped holes of said shanks. It will now be seen that by rotating an escutcheon-platec, for example-the knob e, whose shank is received in the chamber of escutcheon-hub a, will be correspondingly rotated, and assuming such rotation to be in the proper direction the said shank will travel inward upon the threaded spindle end, which latter enters the tapped hole in the said shank. The escutcheon c is thus rotated until the knob has been screwed to the desired position on the spindle end, after which the escutcheon is secured in position on the side of the door. The knobs e and f when secured to the spindle in the manner just described cannot be displaced without rotating the escutcheon-pla'tes c d, which latter are firmly secured in place by the screws 0 In connection with my newly invented latch mechanism any suitable mechanism may be provided for locking the bolt 72 in its outer position. In the drawings this is shown as accomplished by means of an angle-lever m, hung upon a pin m, projecting into the casing 12 and having a number of tumblers n pivotally secured to the end of its upwardlyextending arm, which said tumblers are adapted to be actuated by means of a key inserted in the keyhole b to rock the lever on to bring the end of its lower arm into the path of the bolt 7t, and thus prevent its rear- Ward travel, (dotted lines, Fig. When, however, the angle-lever m is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the said lower arm upon the rearward movement of bolt h enters a slot 71 provided in the lower rear end portion of the said bolt in order that the arm may not interfere with the rearward movement of the bolt.

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 Ihave shown a bolt of such construction that it may be inserted in the lock-case to operate either with a right or left hand door without the necessity of opening said case to rearrange the interior mechanism. In this modified form of bolt. the wall of the rectangular opening it opposite the wall having the slot h therein is provided with a like slot 71, as is best seen in Fig. 8. When this modified form of bolt is to be used, the projection b formed on the side of the lockcase and adapted to enter the bo1t-openingh is done away with and in place thereof the confronting faces of the top and bottom walls of the case are provided with projections 19", which enter the slots 70 h and are adapted to engage the rear face of a plate 5 that is located in the bolt-opening 7L2 and between which and the forward end wall of the opening the spring A is confined, and, if desired, the spring end adjacent the plate 5 may be secured to the latter. When a bolt of the kind just described is provided, it will be seen thatv upon the removal of the spindle g the said bolt may be inserted or removed through the opening in the face-plate b and that its insertion may be either as shown in full or dotted lines in Fig. 6. \Vhen the bolt h enters the case b, the lugs 12 enter the slots 7L5 7L6 and engage the plate 19 after which continued rearward travel of the bolt serves to compress the spring 7t. Then the spindle g is passed through the opening 71 of the bolt h, it lies in the rear of the plate I) and is adapted to engage the beveled edge h of the projection 7t to operate the bolt in the manner already described.

In Fig. 11 a bolt h is shown which, like the bolt just described, may be readily adjusted to operate with either a right or left hand door. provided having in its end an opening 72, to receive the spindle in the manner described; but said bolt-shank is encircled by the spring 76 instead of the latter being located in the bolt-chamber 7L2. The spring k is confined between the bolt head and the projections 12" and operates in the manner set forth in connection with the styles of bolts already de scribed.

My newly-invented latch mechanism as a whole is of very simple construction, is readily applied, and operates in a very satisfactory manner to accomplish the end for which it is designed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In combination, in a knob-latch, a slidable bolt having an inclined portion 72, a spindle movable transversely to the move ment of the said bolt, and a roll pivoted in said spindle and lying within the cross-sectional outline of the bolt, in engagement with said inclined portion h; the said bolt being adapted for reversal in its seat for use with either right-hand or left-hand doors.

2. In combination, in a knob-latch, a slidable bolt with inclined portion h, a knob-spindle with threaded end, as set forth, a roll pivoted in the said spindle, in engagement with the said inclined portion h, an internallythreaded knob-shank that is angular in crosssection, an angularly-chambered escutcheon adapted to receive the said knob-shank, and means forsecnring said escutcheou in desired position, all substantially as herein specified.

Signed at Norwich, Connecticut, this 30th day of May, 1900.

WVALTER A. CROUCH.

VVitn esses:

FRANK H. ALLEN, ALONZO M. LUTHER.

In the said bolt of Fig. 11 a shank is 

